To assess the sensitivity and specificity of ANAM-PD in detecting cognitive status in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and healthy controls (HC).

To validate the specific individual domains of the ANAM-PD cognitive battery by comparisons to available standardized cognitive evaluation scales administered to the patients with Parkinson disease with and healthy control subjects.

To evaluate the reliability of the ANAM-PD battery of tests by comparing repeated administrations of the ANAM-PD battery on a sub-set of subjects with Parkinson disease and healthy controls.

To characterize cholinergic neurotransmission through imaging the vesicular acetylcholine transporter binding with 123Iodobenzovesamicol (IBVM) and SPECT in PD patients and healthy controls.

In this observational study 2 cohorts will participate. Cohort 1 will include people with Parkinson disease and Cohort 2 will include healthy volunteers.

A subset of twelve subjects (8 PD and 4 HC) will be enrolled in the [123I] IBVM and SPECT imaging portion of this study

Drug: [123I] IBVM and SPECT imaging

Subjects will be injected with up to 4 mCi of 123-I IBVM followed by SPECT imaging.

Other Name: FUNCTIONAL BRAIN IMAGING

Drug: Subjects will undergo the 123-I IBVM imaging visit

Subjects will be injected with a bolus of up to 4 mCi of 123-I IBVM followed by serial SPECT imaging.

Other Name: FUNCTIONAL BRAIN IMAGING

Detailed Description:

General Design and Methods The overall goal of this proposal is to validate ANAM-PD as an assessment tool for cognitive status in PD. We propose a comprehensive strategy to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of ANAM-PD in detecting cognitive changes in patients with a diagnosis of PD (n=50) and healthy controls (n=25). The specific testing domains of the ANAM-PD battery will be validated against standardized neuropsychological testing, described in detail below. The reliability of the ANAM-PD battery will be evaluated through a test-retest procedure in a subset of 50 subjects (25 PD and 25 HC). This strategy will enable us to evaluate the individual domains of the ANAM-PD computerized cognitive test and establish a battery as a standard test to efficiently measure cognitive changes in PD. We also propose to explore functional neuroimaging of the cholinergic system using [123I] IBVM and SPECT, a marker of vesicular acetylcholine transporter and a measure of the integrity of the cholinergic neuronal system. Identifying and validating ANAM-PD as an efficient tool for assessing cognitive changes in PD and exploring the cholinergic transporter system in PD through functional neuroimaging could predict sub-sets of PD patients 'at risk' for developing dementia and help elucidate the neurochemistry related to cognitive decline in PD

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

30 Years and older

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Criteria

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

PD subjects

Inclusion criteria:

The participant is 30 years or older.

Written informed consent is obtained.

Participants have a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease based on Brain Bank Criteria.

The subject has any disorder that may interfere with drug absorption distribution, metabolism, or excretion (including gastrointestinal surgery).

The subject has received an investigational drug within 60 days before the screening visit.

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Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00556764